誰將成爲威廉王子的新娘？
Who'll wed Wills? Bookies taking bets on Britney
Britney throws on a fresh spring dress and a cowboy hat, going on a shopping spree at Sydney Michelle Boutique in Los Angeles on Thursday afternoon.
British bookmakers were taking bets Saturday on who Prince William will marry following his reported split from girlfriend Kate Middleton, with Britney Spears and Kylie Minogue among the front runners.Bookmaker William Hill was offering odds of 6-1 that the 24-year-old prince, second in line to the throne, would tie the knot with a female fellow army officer.
But a host of famous and infamous celebrities were not far behind.
William Hill offered 8-1 on Tara Palmer-Tomkinson, a British socialite and friend of the family, 14-1 on Australian pop singer Kylie Minogue and also on US party girl Hilton, the hotel chain heiress.
Wayward singer Spears -- whom he was reported to have been exchanging emails with in 2002 -- was priced at 20-1, British model Keeley Hazell was 22-1 and gutsy Russian tennis beauty Maria Sharapova was 33-1.
Other potential queens quoted included US singer Kelly Osbourne and Paul McCartney's estranged wife Heather Mills, both at 100-1.
A same-sex civil ceremony was also a 100-1 shot.
William's brother Prince Harry, 22, was tipped to beat him to getting down on one knee. William Hill said Harry was 1-2 to get engaged first while William was 6-4.
They offered odds of 2-1 that William would get engaged between the ages of 28 and 30, 10-1 that he would still be unmarried at 35 and 20-1 that he would become king as a single man.
William Hill said they had expected to pay out over 50,000 pounds (75,000 euros, 100,000 dollars) if William married Middleton.
But British media reported Saturday that the love affair was over.
"We are as shocked as everyone else, if rather more relieved than most as we were preparing to pay out over 50,000 pounds to punters who had backed the couple to wed," said William Hill spokesman Rupert Adams.
威廉王子與前女友凱特·米德爾頓分手的消息傳出後，英國博彩公司於上週六開設賭局，猜測誰會成爲威廉王子的結婚對象，小甜甜布蘭妮和凱莉·米諾成爲猜測的熱門人物。
威廉·希爾博彩公司以1賠6的賠率（譯者注：下注100元，如果贏了，可以賺500元）打賭，王位第二繼承人、24歲的威廉王子將與他的一位軍中女同事結婚。
不過一些名人--無論是赫赫有名的還是名聲不太好聽的，都緊隨其後。
如：英國社交名媛、王室的朋友塔拉·帕爾默-湯姆金森，賠率爲1賠8；澳大利亞流行歌星凱莉·米洛、美國社交女王、酒店業豪門女星希爾頓，賠率均爲1賠14。
據說，行爲無常的歌星小甜甜布蘭妮2002年曾與威廉王子互發電子郵件，她的賠率爲1賠20；除此之外的熱門人物還包括，英國模特基莉·海澤爾，賠率1賠22；俄羅斯網壇美女名將瑪麗亞·莎拉波娃，賠率1賠33。
其餘的"潛在王妃"包括美國歌手凱莉·奧斯本以及保爾·麥克考特尼的前妻海瑟·米爾斯，兩人的賠率均爲1賠100。
賭"威廉王子將和同性男友結爲民事伴侶關係的"的賠率爲1賠100。
據傳聞，威廉王子的弟弟--22歲的哈里王子將比他先結婚。威廉·希爾博彩公司以2賠1的賠率賭哈里王子會早訂婚，威廉王子的爲4賠6。
威廉·希爾公司以1賠2的賠率賭威廉王子將在28歲至30歲之間訂婚，以1賠10的賠率賭他到35歲仍是單身，以1賠20的賠率賭他將繼位時仍未結婚。
據威廉·希爾公司介紹，如果威廉王子與米德爾頓結婚，他們將賠上5萬英鎊。
但上週六英國媒體報道，這對情侶已分手。
威廉·希爾博彩公司的發言人魯波特·亞當姆斯說：“我們和其他人一樣震驚。但值得慶幸的是，我們不需要向那些賭他們會結婚的人支付5萬英鎊了。”
